The middle game in Yahtzee is extremely complex to say the least. At the beginning of the game, the score card is empty so you know the situation you face, and at the end of the game the score card is full so you know exactly what you need to get. In between though, the score card can be partially filled in a myriad of possible ways. In fact, after about seven hands have been played, there are more than 1,700 different ways in which the score card can be filled, considering only the categories themselves and not the scores that they contain.

Due to the level of complexity, it is simpler to discuss the middle part of a Yahtzee game in general themes than it is to cite concrete examples. The variety in the game at this point makes the study of specific examples rather contrived, since it is incredibly unlikely that you will ever find two middle games that are identical to each other.

With this in mind, you still need to consider some of the strategic themes involved in playing the middle portion of a Yahtzee game. Rather than be bound by rigid rules as in the operating game, you will try to get a “feel” for how to best approach this most challenging part of Yahtzee.

One of the most important themes of the middle game strategy is transition and planning. AS you already know, it is important to “go with the flow” in the beginning of the game. But whereas the dice dictate how you play and score your hands early in the game, in the middle it is necessary to start planning for the rest of the game. You still allow the dice to dictate your play but only up to a certain point. With several boxes already filled, you need to carefully assess the open categories as you play your hands, allowing a bias in the strategy toward filling the open spots.

The tack you take in the middle game depends to a large degree on your status in the Upper Section. Specifically, you need to look at whether you are ahead on points, on par, or behind in achieving the gal of 63 points. To figure out your status in the Upper Section, you should add the values in the boxes that are already filled. Then calculate a sum for the values in the unfilled categories by assuming that you will get three of each number that is left. Add the two totals together to see where you stand. If you land at 63 points, you are on par. At the same time, if you have more than 63 points you are ahead, and if you have less than 63 points then you are behind.

For example, if you have 48 points in the Aces, Fours, Fives and Sixes categories, and that the Twos and Threes are unfilled, you will need three 3’s, and three 3’s to get the 15 points you need to reach 63. This is planning ahead and it is something that is essential to the game of Yahtzee.